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9 Masashi Nakayama
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| Position: FW
| | Born:23-Sep-1967
| | Height/Weight:178/72
| | Birthplace:Shizuoka |
| Previous Teams:Fujieda Higashi HS, Tsukuba U., Jubilo Iwata |
| Appearances (J1/J2):337/0 | Goals: 156/0 |
| First Appearance: 12-Mar-1994 Jubilo Iwata - vs - Kashima Antlers (at Kashima Stadium) |
| First Goal :19-Mar-1994 Jubilo Iwata - vs - Verdy Kawasaki (at Tokyo Nat'l Stadium) |
| Year | Team | Appearances | Goals |
|---|
| 1993 | Jubilo Iwata (JFL) | 18 | 18 |
| 1994 | Jubilo Iwata | 12 | 3 |
| 1995 | Jubilo Iwata | 45 | 18 |
| 1996 | Jubilo Iwata | 27 | 9 |
| 1997 | Jubilo Iwata | 27 | 18 |
| 1998 | Jubilo Iwata | 27 | 36 |
| 1999 | Jubilo Iwata | 23 | 6 |
| 2000 | Jubilo Iwata | 29 | 20 |
| 2001 | Jubilo Iwata | 30 | 16 |
| 2002 | Jubilo Iwata | 29 | 16 |
| 2003 | Jubilo Iwata | 12 | 3 |
| 2004 | Jubilo Iwata | 19 | 3 |
| 2005 | Jubilo Iwata | 29 | 6 |
| 2006 | Jubilo Iwata | 13 | 1 |
| 2007 | Jubilo Iwata | 15 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 337 | 156 |
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For well over a decade, Masashi "Gon" Nakayama was the heart, soul, and above all, the voice of the Jubilo Iwata team. Although his public face has always been uncharacteristically brash and outspoken for a Japanese person, the glint in his eye always tells you that his boasts and braggadoccio is just in fun. This clowning around, and the spirit of energy and enjoyment that it created in the clubhouse, probably contributed as much to Jubilo's successes over the years as his considerable feats on the playing field. was always able to inspire teammates and keep everyone in high spirits, even in defeat.
| Gon's football accomplishments are also in a class by themselves. His record of over 150 J.League goals is not likely to be matched in his lifetime. Even as a younger player, Nakayama was always been criticised for having less-than-spectacular dribbling skills, and an unusually poor first touch for a striker. Nevertheless, he worked as hard as anyone at his craft, and steadily improved that aspect of his game as the years passed. But what set Nakayama apart from just about every Japanese striker before or since was his knack for scoring goals.
Nakayama is one of those players with the rare gift for knowing exactly where the ball is going to be, and even as age crept up on him, he consistently displayed his ability to baffle the defence by somehow showing up in just the right spot and at just the right time to drive home a goal. Nakayama always had excellent body control, especially in the air, making him a deadly target on set plays. And like many other consummate finishers, he realised that it never matters how "beautiful" or how "ugly" a shot may be, so long as the ball ends up in the net.
There are two incidents in his career which can help to illustrate his character as both a player and a person. The first came in Japan's final World Cup match in 1998, against Jamaica. The team had already conceded two goals, and things were looking pretty hopeless, but Nakayama was brought on late in the contest in a bid to at least produce a goal, allowing Japan to go away from their first World Cup with some sort of consolation. |  |
Not long after he entered the contest, Nakayama went down under a crunching tackle, and writhed on the field in pain for a full minute. When he finally managed to get to his feet, he was limping badly and in obvious pain, but he continued to make an effort to chase after the ball despite the fact that he was clearly injured. Late in the contest Nakayama broke free in front of goal and dashed onto a cross from Naoki Soma on the left wing, throwing himself through the air to bundle the ball home. A few minutes later the match ended and Nakayama went down in a heap. He was stretchered away, and taket to the hospital where doctors put his leg in a cast. He had fractured his tibia, yet continued to play for about ten minutes . . . even managing to score a goal . . . with a broken leg.
The second illustration came in a match in 2001, with his team chasing yet another league title. It was a tight contest with the score deadlocked, and as the clock ran down, Jubilo won a free kick. The ball was whipped in towards the near post, and Nakayama was typically in an ideal position, a step in front of his defender. But both players were moving away from goal, and Nakayama must have realised that there was no way he could posssibly contort his body to get either a head or a foot on the ball. Instead, he leapt into the air, and just as the ball arrived, he thrust out his buttocks, meeting it with precision and sending it just inside the near post.
After the contest, when a reporter called him over for the "man of the match" interview, Nakayama swaggered up with typical brauva and exuberance, and didnt even let the reporter finish his question. "We won this match because I have a great ass!" he boasted, eyes wide and chest puffed out in mock bravado. "I have the best ass in the world. Nobody else can match my ass. My ass is the most dangerous ass in the J.League. I love my ass!"
That was Gon. Always the clown, yet always the player who was prepared to run around on a broken leg until he could come through with the key goal to carry his team to victory. Although his decision to squeeze out as many years as possible before retiring made him an object of some derision, in the final years of his career (his nickname changing from "Gon", to "Grandpa"), thre is no denying his position as one of the finest players ever to wear the Samurai Blue for Japan.
National Team Data & History |
 | NT Caps: 53 |
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| NT Goals: 21 |
Tournaments:
World Cup Qualifiers (1993)
World Cup Qualifiers (1997)
France World Cup (1998)
Copa America (1999)
World Cup Korea/Japan (2002)
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| | Date | Vs. | Score | Location | Status | Min. | G |
|---|
| 10-28-1998 | Egypt | 1-0 | Nagai Stadium | Start | 59 | 1 |
| 3-31-1999 | Brazil | 0-2 | Nagai Stadium | Start | 82 | 0 |
| 2-5-2000 | Mexico | 0-1 | Hong Kong | Start | 80 | 0 |
| 2-8-2000 | Hong Kong | 0-0 | Hong Kong | Start | 70 | 0 |
| 2-13-2000 | Singapore | 3-0 | Macao Stadium | Start | 90 | 1 |
| 2-16-2000 | Brunei | 9-0 | Macao Stadium | Start | 90 | 3 |
| 2-20-2000 | Macao | 3-0 | Macao Stadium | Start | 90 | 2 |
| 3-15-2000 | China | 0-0 | Kobe Universiade | Start | 90 | 0 |
| 4-26-2000 | Korea | 0-1 | Seoul, Korea | Start | 73 | 0 |
| 12-20-2000 | Korea | 1-1 | National Stadium | Sub | 45 | 0 |
| 5-31-2001 | Canada | 3-0 | Niigata Stadium | Sub | 52 | 0 |
| 6-2-2001 | Cameroon | 2-0 | Niigata Stadium | Sub | 17 | 0 |
| 6-4-2001 | Brazil | 3-0 | Kashima Stadium | Sub | 30 | 0 |
| 6-13-2001 | France | 0-1 | Yokohama Int'l | Sub | 16 | 0 |
| 7-1-2001 | Paraguay | 1-0 | Sapporo Dome | Sub | 12 | 0 |
| 7-4-2001 | Yugoslavia | 1-0 | Oita "Big Eye" | Sub | 1 | 0 |
| 8-15-2001 | Australia | 3-0 | Shizuoka Stadium | Sub | 28 | 0 |
| 11-7-2001 | Italy | 1-1 | Saitama Stadium | Sub | 3 | 0 |
| 5-25-2002 | Sweden | 1-1 | Nat'l Stadium | Sub | 24 | 0 |
| 6-4-2002 | Belgium | 2-2 | Saitama Stadium | U.R. | -- | -- |
| 6-9-2002 | Russia | 1-0 | Yokohama Int'l | Sub | 18 | 0 |
| 6-14-2002 | Tunisia | 2-0 | Nagai Stadium | U.R. | -- | -- |
| 6-18-2002 | Turkey | 0-1 | Miyagi Stadium | U.R. | -- | -- |
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| 10-16-2002 | Jamaica | 1-1 | Nat'l Stadium | U.R. | -- | -- |
| 11-20-2002 | Argentina | 0-2 | Saitama Stadium | Sub | 35 | 0 |
| 4-16-2003 | Korea | 1-0 | Seoul, Korea | Start | 75 | 0 |
| 5-31-2003 | Korea | 0-1 | Nat'l Stadium | Start | 74 | 0 |
| 6-8-2003 | Argentina | 1-4 | Nagai Stadium | Start | 45 | 0 |
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